tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post114862160638353731..comments2024-03-26T14:44:37.985-04:00Comments on D-Ed Reckoning: Connect the DotsKDeRosahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06853211164976890091noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-1149448104477475692006-06-04T15:08:00.000-04:002006-06-04T15:08:00.000-04:00I've heard the statistic that a child can only mem...<B>I've heard the statistic that a child can only memorize about 300-400 words a year. </B><BR/><BR/>What do you mean by memorize? Apply during speech, read and comprehend, sound out...?Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01136112516250432897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-1148783652003865762006-05-27T22:34:00.000-04:002006-05-27T22:34:00.000-04:00What else is there to do, but to go back and teach...What else is there to do, but to go back and teach them all the things they failed to learn, which I'm sure is all but impossible?KDeRosahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06853211164976890091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-1148782730475879082006-05-27T22:18:00.000-04:002006-05-27T22:18:00.000-04:00As we've been over and over, there are surely a nu...As we've been over and over, there are surely a number of factors that my kids are not prepared when they get to me. It is an excellent idea to be sure future classes will be. But in the meantime, the question I'm worried about is how do we help the 10th graders I ALREADY have?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-1148758526695797392006-05-27T15:35:00.000-04:002006-05-27T15:35:00.000-04:00I am not saying we can't teach first graders who d...<I>I am not saying we can't teach first graders who don't want to learn. I'm saying I can't teach 10th graders who don't want to or see any reason to.</I><BR/><BR/>I'm not disagreeing. You shouldn't have to teach kids in tenth grade lacking ninth grade skills. But the bigger point is why weren't these kids properly taught in first to ninth grade before they got to you?KDeRosahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06853211164976890091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-1148703776859673072006-05-27T00:22:00.000-04:002006-05-27T00:22:00.000-04:00I will say this: on this subject, my arguments var...I will say this: on this subject, my arguments vary from what I would usually say. I tend to make arguments <I>similar</I> to those cited above, BUT, recall I am dealing with 10th graders. If my kids are lacking in reading, they have to <I>echar ganas</I>--put in some will and effort--to get to where they should be.<BR/><BR/>As far as the teaching of reading, I should be teaching them to make all kinds of higher order connections, but if they are not to that stage, they have to stick with me to get there. There is nothing I can do if they do not. Further, if those who surround them the rest of the day show the young ones that they don't feel it's worth it, then how are they going to do anything about it?<BR/><BR/>So, if the temptation is to compare these statistics to anything I, for one, have said, please bear in mind the difference of vantage point.<BR/><BR/>I am not saying we can't teach first graders who don't want to learn. I'm saying I can't teach 10th graders who don't want to or see any reason to.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-1148667132774598622006-05-26T14:12:00.000-04:002006-05-26T14:12:00.000-04:00I've heard the statistic that a child can only mem...I've heard the statistic that a child can only memorize about 300-400 words a year. This works out ok for K-3, but then in grade 4 when they are out of the controlled readers, the word deficits become much more apparent, because the (rote) memorization of words doesd not generalize to learning other words all that well.KDeRosahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06853211164976890091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-1148665180336836722006-05-26T13:39:00.000-04:002006-05-26T13:39:00.000-04:00I have seen first hand what can happen to those ki...I have seen first hand what can happen to those kids who seem to "get it" effortlessly. It works just fine for K-2 or 3. But when grades 4 and 5 come along, the words they need to know increase at an exponential rate. If they don't have a proper foundation, they hit the wall because they can't possibly memorize that many new words.1citizenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14145980266535626431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-1148649714381335682006-05-26T09:21:00.000-04:002006-05-26T09:21:00.000-04:00It's not just language-based math that causes poor...It's not just language-based math that causes poor math results. All of the fuzzy, lower grade math programs expect little practice and slow the pace way down. <BR/><BR/>Our (affluent community) public schools still try to get some of the kids to know their adds and subtracts to 20 in third grade. It's the same effect. Some kids will pick up the skill very easily and you could use almost any program, except for the very slow pace. Most kids, however, need lots of practice and instruction. They don't get the practice because schools think that this is drill and kill. Schools only worry about concepts and thematic (trivial) real-world connections. They see no connection between mastery of the basics and understanding. They mistakenly connect practice with rote and no understanding. Math is cumulative and takes lots of practice for most kids. Schools that don't take responsibility for making sure kids meet skill-level goals each year end up creating kids who will hate math. Ironically, these kids will think that they are "just not good in math", as if it is some sort of genetic thing. My impression is that many schools somehow believe that it takes some special sort of "math brain" to be good in math - that instruction can only do so much. Perhaps this is because only those who find math easy will survive really bad math curricula.<BR/><BR/>Our K-8 public schools only offer what I call algebra lite on top of CMP for all 8th graders. Nobody can get anything else - on purpose. The school knows that the content of this course does not tie in with the Calculus math track in high school. The justification for this is that our schools did a self-study and found that our kids "hold their own" in high school compared to other towns that offer three levels of math in 8th grade (pre-algebra, algebra, and advanced algebra). Astonishingly, this did not raise any questions for them.<BR/><BR/>I say that if the schools want parental involvement, many of us parents will give it to them. What we parents want to be involved with are expectations, philosophy, curricula, and accountability - not making sure that little Johnnie did his fuzzy homework.<BR/><BR/>Schools don't get very far with self-analysis. They set things up based on their own philosophy and educational biases. Some kids will always do well, so there will always seem to be some level of success, no matter what they do. Rather than examine their fundamental assumptions, they will only look for relative improvements, like tweak the teaching process, more money, smaller class size, and more parental support. With so many variables, it's very easy to focus on only small, relative changes, rather than fundamental assumptions and externally-defined, high expectations.<BR/><BR/>One of the reasons that many public high schools do so well is that they separate students by ability and must provide courses that lead up to the externally-defined AP courses. Unfortunately, many of the kids who are able to get into the good high school tracks are the ones who got outside help (parents or tutors) or would do well no matter what. A number of parents have told me that the idea is to send your kids to private K-8 schools, and then they can go to a good public high school. <BR/><BR/>Lower schools have no such external influences. They seem to be stuck in their own low-content, developmentally appropriate, full-inclusion world. They are not prone to scientific self-study. This philosophical wall between K-8 schools and high schools creates a curriculum and expectation gap where only the best (or parentally-supported) students can survive.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-1148641775505277912006-05-26T07:09:00.000-04:002006-05-26T07:09:00.000-04:00Well said! and lest we forget "Language based math...Well said! and lest we forget "Language based math" programs like Growing with Mathematics. Without the proper grounding in reading, these kids are S.O.L.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com